The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt., has a long history of researching shipwrecks and other cultural resources preserved in the depths of the region’s largest lake.
The museum contracted with CHPE developers to ensure the cable route and construction activities don’t disturb the lake’s massive trove of historic wrecks and old-timey infrastructure. The work was largely confidential, but museum staff did offer an update on the consulting work during the museum fourth annual virtual archeology conference. They also examined the cable’s route in the Hudson and Harlem rivers.
Underwater archeologists with the museum identified scores of historic shipwrecks along the path of the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, including what appeared to be a previously-undiscovered abandoned barge from the historic Delaware & Hudson Canal resting at the bottom of the Hudson River.
They also identified more details of the old drawboat that provided access across a narrow section of the lake at Larrabee’s Point near Fort Ticonderoga. The wooden barge could swing open for steamboats to pass by.
“[The CHPE work] enhanced our understanding of some underwater cultural resources and will add to our future work,” Gates said.
During the conference, museum staff also discussed an overhaul of its collections and archives, work to develop a sprawling database of wreck sites and how old underwater video footage could provide clues to how the lake has changed in recent decades.
A replica of Benedict Arnold’s gunboat Philadelphia at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vermont. Photo by Zachary Matson.
State lawmakers asked Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez about the agency’s progress on mitigating the environmental harms of road salt use.
The recommendations of the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force, Dominguez said, were “really critical.” DOT has been executing them, she said, citing the agency’s use of a tool to calibrate how much salt it is applying and where.
The commissioner said DOT was also focusing efforts on educating local highway departments “to make sure they’re addressing … some of those best practices.”
Sawyer Bailey, executive director of AdkAction, later testified before lawmakers, asking that of the $156 million the governor has proposed for snow and ice management, to set aside funds to implement the recommendations in the Adirondack Road Salt Task Force Report. AdkAction would particularly like to see the use of live-edge snowplows, salt brine spreaders, and the use of more weather tracking equipment.
Cultural history preserved underwater
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt., has a long history of researching shipwrecks and other cultural resources preserved in the depths of the region’s largest lake.
They put that expertise to work on the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission project, which is in the process of installing an underwater cable on the bottom of the lake. That cable will send Canadian hydropower to power-hungry New York City and is a crucial puzzle piece to help wean New York off of fossil fuels.
The museum contracted with CHPE developers to ensure the cable route and construction activities don’t disturb the lake’s massive trove of historic wrecks and old-timey infrastructure. The work was largely confidential, but museum staff did offer an update on the consulting work during the museum fourth annual virtual archeology conference. They also examined the cable’s route in the Hudson and Harlem rivers.
Underwater archeologists with the museum identified scores of historic shipwrecks along the path of the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, including what appeared to be a previously-undiscovered abandoned barge from the historic Delaware & Hudson Canal resting at the bottom of the Hudson River.
They also identified more details of the old drawboat that provided access across a narrow section of the lake at Larrabee’s Point near Fort Ticonderoga. The wooden barge could swing open for steamboats to pass by.
“[The CHPE work] enhanced our understanding of some underwater cultural resources and will add to our future work,” Gates said.
During the conference, museum staff also discussed an overhaul of its collections and archives, work to develop a sprawling database of wreck sites and how old underwater video footage could provide clues to how the lake has changed in recent decades.
Lawmakers weigh in on salt reduction
Road salt use last week had its short turn in the sun during Albany’s days-long budget hearings.
State lawmakers asked Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez about the agency’s progress on mitigating the environmental harms of road salt use.
The recommendations of the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force, Dominguez said, were “really critical.” DOT has been executing them, she said, citing the agency’s use of a tool to calibrate how much salt it is applying and where.
The commissioner said DOT was also focusing efforts on educating local highway departments “to make sure they’re addressing … some of those best practices.”
Sawyer Bailey, executive director of AdkAction, later testified before lawmakers, asking that of the $156 million the governor has proposed for snow and ice management, to set aside funds to implement the recommendations in the Adirondack Road Salt Task Force Report. AdkAction would particularly like to see the use of live-edge snowplows, salt brine spreaders, and the use of more weather tracking equipment.
Read more from our policy reporter Gwen Craig, who is keeping up with all the action at the Capitol.
Top photo: A historic boat display at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vt. Photo by Zachary Matson.
This first appeared in Zach’s weekly “Water Line” newsletter. Click here to sign up.